Stocks climbed higher Wednesday, building on the previous session's gains, as investor optimism around artificial intelligence and Netflix
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
President Donald Trump announced a joint venture late Tuesday with OpenAI, Oracle
"These world-leading technology giants are announcing the formation of Stargate. So, put that name down in your books, because I think you're going to hear a lot about it in the future," Trump told reporters during a press briefing at the White House. "A new American company that will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States."
Investors also seemed unphased after Trump said separately that his administration is considering a 10% tariff on China to start as soon as Feb. 1.
"We're talking about a tariff of 10% on China based on the fact that they're sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada," Trump said, referring to the addictive synthetic opiod that has led to thousands of U.S. overdose deaths each year.
On the Earnings Front:
Netflix shares jumped nearly 10% higher on Wednesday after the streaming giant posted strong fourth-quarter earnings results, notably surpassing 300 million paid memberships. The company said that when including "extra member accounts," its global audience is estimated to exceed 700 million.
"We really have built the business on variety and quality across countries, across regions, across genres and really focused year-round on having a very strong slate of programming for our members," CEO Ted Sarandos told investors during the company's earnings call.
For its full year 2025 outlook, Netflix raised its revenue expectations to a new range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, about $500 million higher than its previous forecast. The company said it plants to improve its core business this year with more series and films and continue to grow its ads business.
Moreover, Netflix said it would raise prices on some of its streaming tiers between $1 and $2 per month.
United Airlines
For its full year 2025, United expects adjusted earnings to range between $11.50 to $13.50, mostly in-line with analyst estimates.
Johnson & Johnson
Procter & Gamble
"I want to be clear: I don't think China is out of the woods," CFO Andre Schulten told analysts during the company's earnings call. "But it's good to see the trend going more positive."
Procter & Gamble also reiterated its fiscal 2025 forecast, calling for core net earnings per share in a range of $6.91 to $7.05 with revenue growth between 2% and 4%.